QuoVadis – Amateur Radio

Dear Don,

To my mind, one of the finest hobbies one can cultivate and get involved with is amateur radio.

Licensed in 1979, my involvement grew from just an interest to a passion spanning 43 years up to the end of 2021 when I sold off all my HF/VHF and UHF equipment due to retirement village restrictions.

However, now I am embarking on a totally new ‘adventure’ – the abundance of software available on the internet.

I just felt, that after my ‘coax was cut’, why

must anybody kiss the hobby goodbye. This is a problem faced by many retiring who find themselves cut off from the outside world. On the contrary – there is an abundance of networks available through which I am building up a totally new circle of friends.

The other problem facing amateur radio is the lack of control of equipment sold to Industry that does not comply with interference on the amateur bands. The level of electronic interference on most bands is now almost untenable.

Amateur radio enthusiasm is on the wane, probably due to the cost of new equipment

that has gone through the ceiling. In many countries the financial rate of exchange has made the purchase of equipment just a dream.

In some countries, even Governments are getting involved into amateur radio, not as operators, but in an effort to generate an interest in the hobby. Possibly the lack of new technical and innovative developments, which so often in the past came from the shack of radio experimenters!

Historically, the vast majority of innovative and technical advancements in communication worldwide came from the bench of some